Improvement in car-trucks



I z sh t-Sh t E FROST ees ee 1 Car Truck. W l No. 35,228. Patented May 13, 1862.

Q 'Ma 61w gw uu AM. PHOTO-H11 CD, N.Y-(0SBORNE'S PROCESS.)

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EDIVARD FROST, OF GEORGETOlVN, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN CAR-TRUCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 35,228, dated Hay 13, 1862-.

To (all who? it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD FROST, of Georgetown, in the county of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and Improved Method of Constructing Railway Trucks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention is the employment of axles mutually free to diverge and converge, in combination with the use of fixed wheels of conical tread to be effected by the contrivances hereinafter shown and explained, or any others essentially equivalent thereto, whereby grinding of the flange against the rail, slipping the wheel on therail,wrenches upon the truck, and consequent waste of power, and wear and tear of track and machinery are in a great measure prevented and obviated.

There may be various arrangements and devices through which the invention may be carried out.

In order to enable those skilled in railway machinery to make and use my invention, I herewith subjoin a description exhibiting the mode of applying the improvement to an ordinary truck.

The improved truck will correspond in every detail of construction to an ordinary one, except in the following points, for which convenient dimensions are marked upon the drawings, viz: firrst, the ordinary pedestals and friction-boxes adapted to a play (see C) of three-fourths inch horizontal and transverse to the axles; second, spiral bearingsprings B B, admitting of transverse as well as vertical movement in the axle ends upon which they bear; third, flange and tread of wheel D; fourth, a longitudinal center beam A A, fastened into the truck-frame and carrying, fifth, center pedestals E E, embracing, sixth, a friction-box for traction only at center of each axle F F. The pedestals will be adapted simply by casting them with an increased width of opening, and the boxes by Widenin g their checks or flanges, to correspond thereto. The wheels have a light flange in order to gain play independently of any modifications of the gage of track and form of frogs. The coming is such as suits a curve of three hundred feet radius when the play is two inches. The center beam serves only to carry the pedestals for traction, within which are the friction-boxes for traction. These boxes should be cast with one-fourth inch flanges to fit the three-eighths inch rib on the pedestal, and thus retain their position at the middle of the axle, which should be turned smooth at this point for their reception.

In order to illustrate what is the mode of operation and measure of useful effect belonging to the invention, I take the instance of afour-wheeled truck. The principles are no less applicable to cases of trucks with six and eight wheels, it being a prime condition that each pair of fixed Wheels and the axle attached shall be free of all constraint from others in the same truck, be they one or many, and this condition being secured the coning will constantly guide the course of the rolling parts, so as to divert the flange from the rail. In the instance to be considered adopt total play for each axle end transverse of axle 0.0M feet; entire length of axle, 6.708 feet; distance between axles, 5.400 feet; gage of track, four feet eight and one-half inches, 4.708 feet; playof wheels transversely to their course of rolling, two inches, 0.1 (57 feet. Then the track being assumed perfect and the outer rail elevated to such height as to counteract the centrifugal tendency, the improved truck would turn a curve of three hundred feet radius without grinding the flange or slipping a wheel, and on curves of any radius greater than the minimum to be derived from the dimensions above adopted the improved truck will be, moreover, accommodated to those casual inequalities of surface and alignment, which constitute the usual and necessaryimperfections of track, the flange always tending to leave the rail should a contact occur, and always tending to avoid the contact under the guiding power of the conical tread.

The adoption of my improvement will also be especially-beneficial in promoting the use of what are known as spread trucks, where the distance between axles is large, and the steady running of the truck thereby promoted, in that the proper converging positions of the axles in lines radial to the curve of track will be secured, and the very objectionable friction generated on curves by the usual confined parallelism of the axles being thus obviated the spread truck mav be employed with its admitted superiority in steady running upon such sharp curves as it is now deemed unsuitable to travel over.

I do not claim the ordinary methods of constructing railway-trucks, nor as a separate feature the use of coned Wheels therein; but

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. Constructing the axle-boxes within the jaws of the side pedestals C or any arrangement of the axle ends equivalent thereto, so

as to permit a limited play trans-verse of the axle to the axle ends, in combination with the use of fixed Wheels of conical tread 1).

2. The arrangement of placin g the pedestals E E and journal-boxes F F at the centers of the axles for the purpose of propelling the rolling parts by traction applied at or near their centers of gravity.

EDWARI) FROST.

Witnesses:

E. H. CUMMINS, B. F. STEIGER. 

